


So I may Smile

by Soundone



Series: A Tale of Two Evils [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Drama, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Knifeplay, Love/Hate, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 01:07:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9468656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soundone/pseuds/Soundone
Summary: The war has ended and Oboro and Beruka's strange relationship show no signs of dying. But what happens when one of them starts wishing for something more?





	

‘’My, Oboro! This fabric is just divine!’’ the mauve-haired spellcaster gushed as she fluttered about the store in her new kimono, happily running porcelain hands down the fine silk. ‘’You work a needle as well as you work a lance!’’

The proud shopkeeper gave a smug smirk as the praise filled her chest. ‘’Hmph! You say that like you’re surprised, Orochi! My shop doesn’t tailor royalty for nothing!’’

‘’Oh?’’ the caster said with a giggle and a wink. ‘’I always assumed that being the prince’s retainer had a lot to do with it.’’

‘’Y-You...What?!’’ Oboro’s voice flared despite the full knowledge that her friend was teasing her. Belittling a seamstress’s skill was akin to insulting their family name! ‘’Everyone knows damn well that my stitch work is second to none in all the kingdom! Perhaps a raise in price will help you appreciate it, hmm?’’ She put on her most frightening scowl.

‘’Ekkk! I’m but a poor diviner trying to raise a humble family! Have mercy on this one’s wallet, oh stingy one!’’

The caster just barely dodged an angry hand as she skipped to the door, laughing.

‘’Ha, it never fails to make me laugh riling you up, Oboro!’’ she grinned as the light tinkling of a bell announced her departure. ‘’I’ll send the money to you tomorrow, and do remember our tea session next week would you? Bye!’’

The lancer let out a hefty sigh as the door lightly shut closed, leaving her alone in the colourful store, silence muted by the amber sunset’s warm rays.

‘’Yeah, yeah...’’

Oboro suppressed a light chuckle as she organized her fabrics, deciding to close up shop early today. The summer season festival was all but here and no one but Orochi would be foolish enough to wait until now to order their dresses. She smirked as memories started to fill in the monotony of work.

It had been a couple months since the business with the Invisible Kingdom had ended. With the bonds and understandings built over the war, the two kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr had agreed on a peace treaty, as both countries helped each other rebuild after all the fighting and destruction. Oboro had accepted her prince Takumi’s offer of being a royal seamstress and, unsurprisingly, her beautiful works were a hit with many Hoshidan nobles. She had even gotten requests from some Nohrian nobles!

‘’Those bastards better not be expecting me to make any of their hideous Nohr dresses! How do they even move in those...’’ she muttered to no one in particular as she filed away her orders and sketches. By chance, she stumbled over Orochi’s. The kimono's design request was littered with scribbles and occasional mentions about her love life to Oboro.

‘’Hmph, woman sure likes to brag about her lover, huh?’’ Oboro let out an unintentional giggle as stoic, yet pretty face began to fill her mind. ‘’Marriage seems nice, hmm...Beru-’’

Wild hands clamped around her mouth just in time as a burning blush rose to her cheeks. Unfortunately, the organization of her orders had suffered numerous casualties as a result, parchments scattered about her desk like leaves. The lancer slumped over on the cold wood as bitter hands grudgingly restarted the process anew, a bit of a shake now accompanying them. ‘’Damn it...N-Nohrian scum...’’

The woman’s face was an all too familiar sight within her mind. She had in no way forgotten the things she felt and did with the Nohrian knight during the war. After that day where they had both bared their emotions naked for the other to see, she and Beruka had frequently spent the night together. Whether it was because of a stressful battle or pains of the past coming up to haunt them, the lancer would repeatedly drift underneath the sheets with the daughter of her parents’ murderer and make wild, angry, love until the morning. Even after the war ended, due to members of the royal families becoming romantically involved with each other during their journey, she would frequently accompany Takumi to Nohr, and Beruka would accompany Camilla to Hoshido, so their had affair refused to die, even in spite of their distance apart.

‘’A-Affair? Ridiculous. We are merely...enemies with benefits...’’ That clearly didn’t sound much better. It had been well over a month since she had last seen the woman and she was starting to get antsy. She had began to train vigorously with her lance, despite the war being over, and work her fingers furiously on especially stressful nights. Sometimes it would even affect her work, remembering feeling extremely flustered a week ago when she was working on a dress with the same colour as Beruka’s hair, having to restart from scratch twice.

She began to feel her own mannequins mocking her. With a growl, she shoved the unorganized papers, as well as her thoughts, into her desk for tomorrow to deal with. She stuck a childish tongue out at the lifeless wooden statues before packing up her things and walking out of her shop. Her eyes were assaulted with a both painful and warming ray of sunlight as the door clamped behind her. The sun was barely a sliver on the horizon by now as dying shades of orange and strengthening shades of purple blanketed Hoshido’s imperial capital. She smirked as an evening wind brought light goosebumps to her skin and the smell of the last of the day’s street sweet potatoes to her nose. Being away from her beloved country for so long had only made her incredibly sensitive to lovely sounds and senses that she had adored for so long.

‘’Good hustle, you old dog!’’

Her peaceful reverie was swiftly shattered when a hand roughly patted her on the back. Oboro gave a sharp wince before turning venomous eyes to her attacker.

‘’...Hinata.’’

A chipper grin was there to answer her, but she made no move to return it. The brown-haired samurai chuckled as he slightly backed up. ‘’Whoa, relax there, Oboro! That slap hurt you that much?! You must be getting soft knitting sweaters all-oof!’’

Picking up a nearby broom, the seamstress jabbed the blunt end of the cleaning tool into Hinata’s stomach like a lance, the samurai immediately keeling over. ‘’Just because we are old friends, doesn’t mean you can treat a lady like some brute you met at a bar. And no, it didn’t hurt. I just didn’t want your dirty fingers touching my pure silk robe.’’

‘’As curt as always, huh, Oboro?’’

A cool voice snapped the lancer to attention, the wounded Hinata forgotten as annoyance morphed into surprise and her back suddenly bolting straight, forcing the broom into a comical salute.

‘’P-Prince Takumi! Wha-What are you doing here?!’’

The elegant bowman let out a gentle laugh as he approached his two retainers, a strong sense of camaraderie and nostalgia thick in the air. ‘’Relax, there’s no emergency. I ran into Hinata after finishing an errand in town and thought we might return to the palace together. I also just saw Orochi running off in a lovely kimono and thought I’d come congratulated you on a job well done.’’

She gave a big, happy grin and a light blush at the praise as she slammed her head down in a bow. Even though she had gotten over her crush for the man, she still couldn’t help but to feel giddy every time those charming features were directed at her.

‘’T-Thank you, my prince! And it would be an honour to join you!’’ she beamed as her and Takumi quickly set off on the steps up to the palace, Hinata’s whines echoing through the town as he struggled to catch up.

‘’So, my prince, what business did you have in town today?’’ Oboro cheerfully asked as cherry blossom petals danced upon the colourful horizon.

‘’Oh, nothing difficult. Sakura just asked me to pick up some festals to prepare for when Elise comes to visit. She wishes to show off a dance to her during the summer festival I’m sure.’’

‘’A dance, eh! Little Sakura has really grown over the war!’’ Hinata seedily grinned, Takumi already feeling uncomfortable. ‘’I wonder if Princess Elise will get to see a more intimate dance in private, eh, prince?’’

‘’I’d appreciate if you didn’t talk about my little sister like that in front of me, Hinata.’’

The last little bit of that conversation had been lost to Oboro as the sudden news turned the gears in her mind. ‘’Huh? Princess Elise is visiting during the festival? D-Does that mean the other Nohr siblings will be attending?’’

‘’M-Mph. Yes.’’ the prince calmly said after elbowing his retainer in the same place Oboro had hit with the broom. ‘’We will be discussing further unification treaties and coincidentally it falls on the same time as the festival, so we decided to offer our hospitality.’’ The light hue of coloration that tickled the prince’s cheeks were just barely visible against the sunset. ‘’...I do hope Leo enjoys it...’’

‘’I see Sakura isn’t the only one getting butterflies, hmm, prince Takumi?’’ Hinata challenged with a laugh and a pat on the back, though the prince simply tilted his embarrassed face away. Oboro laughed as well as the two retainers poked and teased their lord, whose face was growing redder and redder. It was painfully obvious that Takumi was smitten with the Nohrian prince, evident by the flushes when they brushed hands or the way his breath would hang on every sentence the Nohrian said. While she felt a bit jealous that she had lost her crush to another man, she was happy for him all the same.

‘’Oh, but what about you, Oboro?’’ Hinata suddenly pried, her laughter dying down dangerously fast. ‘’Aren’t you excited to see lady Camilla’s sharp-eyed retainer again?’’

The mirth on her face drained immediately, cheeks blooming red with anger and denial. ‘’W-What the hell did you say, Hinata?! You better not have implied what I think you did!’’

‘’J-Just a j-joke! Ah, s-sorry!’’ the poor samurai cried as Oboro’s angry fingers loosened their grip on his collar. Even Takumi seemed surprised at the out-roar. She felt herself blushing a bit harder. The lancer knew Hinata was just teasing her and likely didn’t know just how deep her and Beruka’s relationship extended, but just hearing the accusation set off her nerves. It was a similar feeling of denial she had felt before she had learned to accept Beruka.

‘’J-Just don’t do it again...’’ Her cheeks reflected her embarrassment, though her grimace reflected her chagrin. ‘’Honestly. Me...with that scum...’’

The words felt bitter and mocking on her tongue. She knew damn well that she was just as despicable as Beruka was. It was the whole reason they did what they did together. But she had a normal job, a normal life now. Sometimes she just wished she could forget her sins. Sometimes she just wished she could forget Beruka, yet that was a thought that fell faster than a rice straw during the harvest season. Just the idea of giving up skin contact with the knight made her almost want to hurl.

‘Really... I shouldn’t be so desperate for her. Who knows if we’ll even see each other once the peace talks finish... Maybe I shoul-’

flap...flap...

Her line of thought died instantly. There was a soft sound on the wind, a noise so distant and mute that anyone else would have noticed the sound of their breathing first. But to Oboro, it was a sound that commended her total attention, a sound that heralded heating of her skin and the racing of her heart.

‘’I...I hear wyvern wings...’’ she whispered, feet glued to the ground as she searched the burning horizon.

Hinata perked his ears next to Oboro. ‘’Hmm, I don’t hear anything. Prince Takumi, didn’t you tell me that they would be coming tomorrow?’’

‘’Yes, that was what we agreed on, but...’’ The prince paused as he rustled his hair awkwardly. ‘’You know how...attached princess Camilla is to Hinoka.’’

Oboro saw them, two black dots steadily approaching on the horizon, bathed in a dull violet light of the imminent evening. Despite how indistinguishable to the naked eye they looked from another, the difference was night and day for Oboro.

‘’Beruka...’’

 

* * *

 

‘’Eeek! I see the capital, sis! It’s so pretty! Oh, look how tiny everyone looks!’’

The older sister hummed softly at the blonde-haired girl’s giddiness, giving her passenger a short nuzzle as she continued to steer her wyvern. ‘’Yes, it’s almost unfair how much nicer Hoshido looks than Nohr.’’ Sultry eyes slowly turned themselves over to her side, where another wyvern and it’s master glided along in unison with hers. ‘’Wouldn’t you agree, Beruka, dear?’’

The blue-haired woman rolled disinterested eyes over to her lady, face as rigid as steel as she breathed in and out a breath of the cool, Hoshidan sky.

‘’...Sure.’’

She did her best to ignore the the teasing laughter that came after, also choosing to ignore the kiss that was blown in her direction. Though, while her expression was just as impassive, her frigid heart warmed slightly at the sight of her lady’s pleasant mood, in wake of how she had been acting a few months prior.

Purple eyes twitched with the slightest hint of emotion as Beruka looked upwards, admiring the numerous faint white dots that were beginning to settle into the sky as the empty spot to her back where someone once would’ve sat continued to weigh her mind.

It had been about a month since Selena had suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night along with her two friends, leaving nothing but a note behind for her and Camilla. To say her lady was mad would have been an understatement. The knight had seen Camilla’s eyes burn with rage as disbelieving eyes read each heavy line. Beruka was quite angry with the decision as well, as the redhead had been one of the few people she could have called friend, but Camilla’s possessive nature was on another level, the letter burning to ashes as soon as she had finished it as raw magic poured angrily out of the princess’s body. It had taken days for Camilla to even eat again and a week to resume talking to anyone. It was part of the reason why Beruka had so steadily agreed to her and Elise’s request to sneak out of the convoy and come to the capital early. She wanted Camilla to be happy.

‘’Ehehe, I wonder what Sakura is going to say when she sees me so early!’’ the younger sister cheered with a happy blush. Beruka had seen the girl’s excited state as she paced about camp earlier and noticed it had not died down since.

‘’I’m sure she’ll be stunned by your sudden appearance, sister! Anybody would swoon if they had such a devoted lover as you!’’ the elder princess sung, pinching rosy cheeks, though she shamelessly started to swoon herself. ‘’My, but I can’t wait to see how flustered my lovely Hinoka will be when she sees me. Haa, I’m sure her cute little cheeks will turn as red as her hair...’’

‘’Ehehe...’’ Beruka quickly felt wide eyes turn on her. ‘’What about you, Beruka?’’ Elise asked innocently. ‘’Anyone waiting for you?’’

‘’...Urgh...’’ She struggled to find the answer to that question as she felt her heart beat a fraction faster. A vision flashed strong and vivid in her head, one with alluring navy hair as deep as the ocean and skin that was both fair as freshly fallen snow and scarred like the cragged peaks of the Nohrian landscape. The fantasy was enough to make the hardened assassin’s stomach flutter.

She doubted the princess knew about her relationship with Oboro, and she wanted to keep it that way, though the recently restless emotions she felt towards the Hoshidan and the hauntingly shiny eyes that Elise bore through her with made her usually sharp tongue fumble. Luckily, her lady came to her rescue.

‘’Now, now, Elise, you shouldn’t pry into another woman’s love life.’’

So the purple-hair princess said, yet the dark glare and malevolent smile directed at Beruka afterwards was anything but supportive.

‘’Besides, if I happen to hear that someone for Hoshido is stealing my precious Beruka away from me, this peace treaty of ours might come under threat.

Beruka uncharacteristically shivered at the words, unwilling to test if the words were true. She didn’t want to see her lady’s mood if she happened to lose both of her retainers.

Shakily laughing off the joke(?), Elise then suddenly turned backwards.

‘’What about you, Arthur? Looking forward to seeing anyone?’’

Beruka begrudgingly shifted her eyes towards her ‘passenger’. Yelling and panicking for the last hour or so, the hero of justice, Arthur had been dangling off the tail of her wyvern, his pleas and moans now being processed by Beruka for the first time as he held onto the appendage for dear life.

‘’I-I would very much like to get reacquainted with the ground, lady Elise! Preferably not at several dozen miles per hour!’’ He quickly redirected his voice back at Beruka. ‘’Beruka, couldn’t you have come up with slightly less fatal travel accommodations for me?!’’

The wyvern knight simply shrugged. ‘’I gave you permission to sit behind me. Only that you didn’t touch me.’’

‘’T-That is exactly why I am in this predicament! There was nothing else to hold onto! Please, Beruka, at least tie me down so I don’t fall off!’’

Relaxing slightly as she heard Elise amusingly cast a freeze spell to secure her luggage, Beruka turned her body and mind towards the Hoshidan palace, where they would soon be landing. A tiny smile graced her lips as she thought about the woman likely just as impatient to see her again, someone who would take all of the festering thoughts she had felt in the past month and set them free. The woman who once infuriated her, the scum who had just as many flaws as her, the imperfect goddess that both bruised and mended her broken soul.

‘It’ll be good to see you again, Oboro...’

 

* * *

 

 

The moon was high in the sky and crickets had begun they’re midnight ensemble when the Nohr princesses and their retainers had finished their check in procedures. It was bad enough that the two had arrived a full day before they were scheduled, but the eldest princess had decided to interrupt and suddenly kiss lady Hinoka in front of the entire inner council as she delivered a report, which lead to a slew of additional problems.

Which was why Oboro was slumped over and being driven insane by her body in the royal gardens instead of making love to Beruka that very moment. The knight was forced to accompany her mistress as she was given a lengthy reminder of Hoshidan customs from the council, as well as a very embarrassed princess Hinoka.

A pitiful whine echoed about the courtyard as Oboro vainly grinded her thighs together and bit her lip her lip hard enough to draw blood. She groaned as she recounted just how much her heart swelled when she first saw Beruka touch down, how much her skin burned as those piercing purple eyes met and held her gaze during the assembly.

‘’Cur...making me wait after so long...’’ she whispered to the night as fingernails began to dig into her palms. She felt so pitiful that a Nohrian had reduced her to this level of base addiction.

‘’...!’’

The wind brought the sound of the grass behind her crumpling just a moment too late. Her sexual frustration was replaced with dread as a knife suddenly found its way around her throat and a hand to her mouth, the steel communicating a violent shiver to her body as it silenced the even the courtyard crickets.

The first second was filled with fear for her life.

The second was with surprise as she recognized the oh so familiar callouses dotting the hand.

The third was with desire as a voice massaged the canals of her ear, breath just as hot and alluring as she remembered it.

‘’...I see you’re still a slave to your emotions. Just because the war is over, doesn’t mean an assassin can’t kill you while you’re publicly consumed by your lust.’’ Such an humiliating thing to hear when said in such a monotone voice as Beruka’s.

‘’S-Shut it, Nohrian.’’ she roughly, yet shakily, said, voice slightly muffled by Beruka’s hand. The knight lowered it enough for Oboro to speak freely. ‘’I didn’t spare your life so I could hear you nag at me.’’

Beruka hummed at the response, a trace of amusement hidden between tones, before sliding the knife back into her boot and joining the lancer on the bench, eyes casually directed at the evening Hoshido skyline. She watched the sight with mild disinterest for a while before she spoke.

‘’...Oboro.’’

The lancer gave a loud sigh at the poor attempt at a conversation, though she didn’t know why she was expecting anything different.

‘’...Beruka.’’ She felt a bit of the mood disappear, irritation that came naturally with hearing Beruka’s matter-of-fact voice feeding a different flame ‘’Given how desperate you were to see me the other times we met, I wouldn’t have thought the first thing you’d wrap around me would be a knife.’’ the lancer slightly teased, hoping to get the stone-faced knight back for her earlier embarrassment.

‘’Maybe I like things kinky.’’

And that plan of Oboro’s backfired immediately, the lancer quickly going red-faced and spewing half-syllables with indignation. At the spectacle of the Hoshidan vainly trying to piece together her shattered honour, cracked lips turned a fraction upwards as a small chuckle slipped past. Oboro momentarily forgot her anger at the normally emotionless Beruka smiling as the blush on her skin burned more gently, more passionately. To the average person, the sight of the intimidating assassin in mirth was rarer than a blue moon on a cloudy night, yet, around Oboro, it had been an increasingly common occurrence for the lancer to appreciate. Though, while it was pleasant for the eyes, she didn’t quite enjoy how much it made her legs wobble like a newborn fawn’s.

‘’Hpmh...Another one of your jokes, Nohrian?’’ she muttered, trying to steel equal parts her body and mind.

‘’Hmm...nope. Dark humour.’’ the knight wittily retorted, amusement a bit more noticeable than last time. Oboro had noticed her bedmate make quite a bit of those in the last couple months. She wondered if Beruka had taken up jesting after the war ended.

‘’Right, right, of course. How did I not see the difference?’’ the lancer puffed, body relaxing as it accepted the death of her dignity. Oboro suppressed her libido for the time being as the two slowly descended into sparse conversation. Oboro would find some fault in Beruka or her country and Beruka would reflect it with a bland comment or sometimes a dry joke.

Oboro had noticed that they would partake in these trivial efforts increasingly frequently as of late. Usually, she never said anything to the knight when they were alone unless it was with Beruka’s face between her thighs or teeth against her neck, but nearing the end of the war, she recalled they would engage in pillow talk after sex or a lazy exchange about something pointless when they were waiting for their lords. Strangely, she didn’t find it at all forced or awkward, almost pleasant and reassuring for some reason just to hear that voice, regardless how mundane the topic was. She swiftly allowed that realization to be swallowed by the gale of denial in the depths of her heart.

‘’I can’t believe your shameless princess kissed lady Hinoka in front of the council today.’’ Oboro spoke, trying to flush the confusing thoughts from her head. ‘’Surely you must know how poorly this makes Nohr look to our officials? The royal family isn’t the only ones who have a say in the treaties.’’

Beruka simply shrugged at the night sky, not willing nor concerned enough to question her lady’s many strange decisions. ‘’She told me she just wanted to see princess Hinoka for a little bit, but as soon as my lady did, she ran off before I could stop her.’’

The lancer groaned with a bit of a blush. She recalled how mortified high prince Ryoma was when he heard the news.

‘’Y-You...You Nohrians are so base! Do you really have that much trouble controlling your hormones?’’

The knight shrugged once more, but Oboro had failed to notice the glazing of violent eyes this time.

‘’...Maybe...’’

A rough, calloused hand abruptly clamped over hers, warm and inviting. The change in atmosphere was instantaneous. Oboro’s skin flushed crimson, her body tingled with desire and temper, her eyes both hardened and glazed. Beruka’s hot breath suddenly returned to her ear.

‘’I’m having a hard time controlling them now...’’ the knight moaned yearningly as her tongue trailed along Oboro’s neck before biting down violently on her earlobe, blood running free like a river.

‘’Ahh...’’ The boundaries between pain and pleasure had always been blurred when she was with Beruka. Carnality rumbled through every vein in her body and she savagely pressed all her fingernails into her assaulter's shoulder blades, yet barely making an effort to pull her away.

‘’Idiot...hah, what if someone were to see us?’’ she hissed, yet that worry was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. The lancer roughly spun her lover’s head towards her and suddenly clamped the Nohrian’s tongue between her mouth. Beruka moaned, not entirely in displeasure, as hard teeth clenched painfully down on her tongue, Oboro’s own passionately working to retrieve some of the blood she’d lost.

‘’Control your tongue, or I’ll bite it off.’’ she whispered as she released the wet, bruised appendage, purposely ignoring the hypocrisy of her statement.

‘’A-Ahh...’’the slightly shivering knight exhaled, tongue still hanging out of her mouth. She looked like she was going to explode at any moment as she pressed in ever closer. Her breath was so hot and heavy, her body rumbled with desire unchecked, her voice was a captive of her own lust. ‘’I can’t. Lead me to your room or I’m going to take you right here and now.’’

Oboro’s legs snapped like the wind.

 

* * *

 

 

The silken robe that she had earlier chastised Hinata for simply touching was ripped to shreds and tossed like trash on her chamber’s floor, and she couldn’t give less of a damn. Her mouth was a bloody, sloppy mess as she and Beruka furiously fought for dominance in a battle of the tongues against her wall.

‘’...you vile Nohrian dog...’’ the lancer hissed as a rich copper flavour oozed from both of their lips for her to taste. She bit down angrily on Beruka’s bottom lips before greedily sucking up the blood. ‘’Pah...an entire month of neglecting your master and this is all the pleasure you can grant me?’’ Oboro let out a low chuckle as her lapdog growled murderously against her, thunderous hands applying brutal pressure on her shoulders as she pushed her further into the wall.

‘’Ha, ha...I-Is this really all you can do?’’ She was still smirking as a knee was grinded almost painfully between her thighs. ‘’Pa-Pathetic...’’

‘’Stop your whining, Hoshidan pig.’’ The lancer failed to suppress a mindless moan of pleasure as Beruka violently thrusted her scarred body into hers, the tips of their breasts flickering together. ‘’I’m not going to hear anything from a wrench that can barely keep her fingers under control in public.’’

Beruka sucked from Oboro’s lips a large glob of saliva and blood before messily smearing the concoction from the tip of her chin down to the crevasse of her shoulder. The lancer whined as the tongue made several hot trips back and down as it made sure to coat the entire expanse of Oboro’s neck in lust.

‘’Mmm...’’ The Hoshidan’s legs threatened to collapse upon themselves when sharp, hard teeth bit savagely into her shoulder. Her body thrashed in sultry agony as Beruka pressed animalistically into the flesh, eagerly lapping up the warm blood that poured out. ‘’Hah... know your place...’’

Usually, Oboro would have swiftly tried to regain dominance after an insult like that, but Beruka was being surprisingly assertive. Whenever Oboro tried to overcome her grip or come out with a retort, Beruka’s body would clamp down inhumanly on hers and silence her tongue with a thirsty kiss. She let her mind and dignity slip as the Nohrian continued the forcefully pleasing siege on her shattered defences.

Just before Oboro hit her peak, however, the assassin abruptly ceased her grip on the woman, before unceremoniously throwing her onto the bed.

Oboro hissed as the fresh cuts on her back were slid against the fabric of her blanket, scarlet trails glossed over pure white.

‘’Wai-’’ The lancer’s voice was instantly silenced when the chilling steel of a familiar dagger was pressed against her neck, the shocking amount of force applied limiting her breathing to shallow breaths. For all the violent things the two did to each other in bed, this was one even Oboro thought was too extreme. Amber eyes shakily rose to meet her assailant, shivering in anticipation and fear as Beruka’s haunting violet eyes descended, void save for only the most base of emotions. Rigid muscles, extravagantly painted with streaks of their blood, fell surprisingly softly upon Oboro’s form as the assassin slid a leg between hers. It brought Oboro a bit of excitement as she feared for her life.

‘’Guess I do like things kinky...’’ Her lover whispered that to her, allowing her desires to wash over the lancer’s face along with the scent of copper. Oboro could hardly process those words before bloody lips pressed down hard and wildly upon her own. It was no more wild than any of the others that the two had exchanged that night, but the cold knife, still pressed just as firm along her neck seemed to amplify the pleasure, the emergency behind the act. A calloused hand roamed hungrily down the plains of her body, Oboro quivering as it ran about her chest, rough and wanting enough to leave several bruises. Yet, it didn’t stop there, sliding further downwards and, without warning, brashly began a vigorous assault between her legs.

Her heart desperately pounded and trashed within her chest, every muscle in her body screaming to run, get the blade away from her neck, not welcome the assailant with hungry thighs like she was doing. Beruka’s lips refused to budge from hers, neither pleas of help nor mercy able to make it past the greedy sentries. Instead of words, the Norhian communicated through actions.

A pressing of steel that told her that she was in control.

A glare from violet flames that told her she revelled in the lancer’s naked shame.

A dancing of wet digits that told her this was this was what the lancer wanted.

A thrusting of hips upon Oboro’s knee that told her that she wanted it back.

Oboro half scowled, half whimpered when the bombardment of emotions became too much. Her muscles seized, back arched, indifferent to the near fatal pressure it made the knife exert. Amidst the storm of conflicting and nonsensical words that drooled alongside saliva, Oboro cried her lover’s name in a very different tone, weakened and passionate.

‘’ _ Beruka! _ ’’ Any trace of hate was lost as her entire body spasmed away the tension of many a sleepless night.

‘’O-O...bor...tssk...!’’ The assassin followed quickly after, a blistering heat scourging her mind as Oboro’s knee became damp as a marsh.

For a moment, their skin burned hotter than the sun. Gradually, the evening winds pacified the flames, night’s touch cooling both body and mind as violet and amber pools slowly flickered back to reality and each other. Beruka blinked first, making an effort to control her pounding breaths before removing the blade from a pink neck which made the lancer immediately cough.

‘’Gak...you’re...terrible...’’ Oboro’s distain was barely audible over her rasping and pants. She brought her hand and glazed it over the sweaty skin, groaning when she felt a noticeable indent. ‘’Fantastic, now everyone will either think I’m a sexual deviant or I wore one of those disgusting Nohrian dresses with the unbearable collars. I’m not sure which one is worst.’’

‘’...hehehe...’’ A very atypical giggle escaped the now upturned lips of Beruka, commanding a great deal of the lancer’s attention. After giving a sigh containing more mirth than exhaustion, the whimsical assassin collapsed onto the space adjacent to Oboro. Beruka’s smile lingered, which was new, as was the beating of Oboro’s heart at sight of the strangely fitting tilt curving pale cheeks.

‘’I’ll vouch for you being a deviant. I wouldn’t want your store’s reputation to fall because you’re so kinky.’’ The lancer’s fawning was quickly replaced with annoyance.

‘’...I think I’ve had enough of your ‘dark humour’, Nohrian.’’

The next few minutes were filled with pillow talk for the mismatched pair. Bathing in moonlight and fresh scars, they lazily began to chat about whatever popped into their minds first. For the second time that day, Oboro had to question just how natural her relationship with the daughter of her parent’s murderer had become, finding herself staring at azure bangs more than once and light laughter breaking through her self-imposed barriers. Eventually, those worries slipped from her mind as easily as rain off leaves. Vendettas of the past and differences in nations faded from existence in this bastion from time the two had found.

‘’Trust me, Beruka. Even with your hideous sense of fashion, you’d swoon at how dashing prince Takumi looks in the kimono I tailored for him.’’ the lancer said with a proud smirk. ‘’Your prince Leo will be practically begging to bare his children after the summer festival!’’

Beruka gave a light scoff, amused at the excited choice of words. ‘’I overheard the prince mention something about that to Camilla. He sounded like he was really looking forwards to the festival. I believe he also sent you a request for a... kimodote of his own?’’

‘’Yes, yes. I’ve finished making his outfit just a few days ago. I’ll deliver it to him went he arrives tomorrow. Hmph, I’m sure I’ll have to end up tailoring for your entire country when everyone’s stunned by my stitch-work.’’

Oboro closed her eyes as she idly daydreamed about the aesthetics of the dresses, each accenting the features of their owners.

‘King Xander’s would be the deepest shades of black and purple with velvet petals, like the colours of Nohr and that strange sword he has. For princess Camilla, perhaps a more smokey shade of purple with golden highlights. It’s going to be a pain to accommodate all that extra baggage she has though... for Beruka...’

_ The darkest of indigo, like the sky during the peak of midnight. Amongst the shadows, creamy blue streaks, reflecting the hair which cascades like a waterfall at peace within the abyss. The fabric would hug her torso tightly, so that her sculpted core is still defined beneath the oceans of silk, even the smallest depression from scars noticeable upon those hardened ab- _

She snapped out of her pining to fan away the blush rippling across her face. Beruka seemed to notice but spared her the embarrassment, a faint raising of an eyebrow the only tease she got. Regardless, Oboro jumped to try and move the conversation forwards.

‘’A-Anyways, I suppose I could also spare the time for their retainers... i-including you.’’ she cautiously said, before letting her mind wander. ‘’Hmm, come to think about it, I haven’t seen your friend Selena yet. Woman may be nosey, but she’s probably the only person with a hint of fashion sense in your entire country. Did you and Camilla not have enough room on your wyverns or something?’’

Beruka’s face suddenly became very rigid, any evidence of spirit wiped from violent eyes. The knight slowly turned her gaze towards the moon. A mask of ice Oboro once thought to melt in her presence began to freeze over a pretty face.

‘’Selena is...gone.’’

Oboro was expecting anything but that. Surprise and concern laced her voice along with the dread that she felt from seeing such lifeless eyes once again.

‘’W-What? How... Is she... dead?’’

‘’...She might as well be.’’ A hollowness began to overtake the assassin’s tone and with it came vile memories that burned themselves into her head. They stabbed mercilessly at her heart, coldness and apathy making her numb to the wounds, things that she never would have associated with someone she once called her friend.

‘’All she left was a note. No directions, no village name. Didn’t even care enough to say goodbye to my face.’’ Her eyes darkened, a lonely fire burning cold within her iris. ‘’Guess I was just a pastime to her.’’

A very unsettling chill gripped Oboro’s heart. Those words sounded so haunting, so familiar, so much like the time she heard the assassin describe the death of her father. More than frighten her, however, she felt an old anger resurface to her chest. It easily found its way to the lancer’s tongue, irrational and demanding.

‘’I thought you got over your idiotic self-loathing, Beruka!’’ she shouted, the orange of her eyes glowing brighter. ‘’Don’t give me the same garbage excuse as with your father! I know you liked Selena a hell of a lot more than that! It’s perfectly normal to show some gods damned emotion!’’

Violent orbs danced to life, yet, not with what Oboro had wished. The small, cold flame turned red, bright, enraged, the same rage Oboro had once seen underneath a desolate, rainy sky.

‘’I’m not normal.’’

Those few words pushed Oboro back. Anger was quickly overtaken by waves of shock and unease as Beruka looked at Oboro with her father’s eyes, not a human’s, but a monster’s. The lancer’s could feel her chest palpitating. The paralyzing gaze was short-lived, however, the breath frozen within her lungs gradually slipping free as the demons dispersed from violet. For a moment, Oboro saw the Beruka only she knew tremble within their shared stare, human and flawed. But, it seemed the knight valued her pride too much or heard too many terrors inside her head to show anymore humility, suddenly getting off the bed and clumsily putting on her clothes.

‘’I...I’m going to sleep in my room this time. Good night.’’

Beruka didn’t even spare a passing glance before she stormed off and slammed the door shut, leaving a deafening silence in her wake. For a few seconds, Oboro could only gape at the incredibility of the situation, before her own demons roared with agony, causing the lancer to sink nails on her body in anguish. When her teeth threatened to break from stress and skin run out of places to mark, did Oboro finally abandon her self-harm, instead deciding to let her anger slowly burn her alive. She forced her eyes closed, a naive girl fumbling through the darkness for an answer. When they opened, they only brought with them a breath of melancholy that wept regrettably to the stars.

‘’It’d be easier if you were...’’

 


End file.
